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Re’eh: Tzedaka, the Feminine Way
When it comes to tzedaka, the Torah’s commandment is twofold. The pasuk tells us not to harden our heart nor to withhold our hand (Devarim 15:7). These two elements of the Torah’s commandment speak to two different parts of us: the emotional and the physical. On an emotional level, the Torah tells us not to…
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Ekev: No One Will Stand Up Before You
“No man will stand up before you, Hashem your G-d will cast fear of you… on all the land upon which you tread.” The final pasuk of this week’s parsha reinforces the message which is sprinkled throughout the parsha – that Hashem will not allow any enemy to prevail over us. He will make sure…
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Devarim and Tisha B’av: Turning Hatred into Love
Parshat Devarim begins Moshe’s repetition of the Torah to the Jewish people. In his speech, Moshe recaps the journey the nation have taken from Egypt to Mount Sinai and beyond, reminding them of their highs and lows. Moshe rebukes the people for the most catastrophic of sins – the sin of the spies – which…
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Matot-Masei: The Significance of the Kohen Gadol’s Mother
Towards the end of the parsha, Hashem commands Bnei Yisrael to build arei miklat, cities of refuge for accidental murderers. The murderers would live in the cities of refuge until the Kohen Gadol of the time passed away and they could then go free. One key character in this scenario is the mother of the…
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Pinchas: Dreams in the Genes
The Ponovezher Rav, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, was a great visionary. He survived the devastation of the Holocaust, having lost his family and watching the yeshiva world crumble with the loss of its students. He spoke of grand plans to build a beautiful yeshiva in Israel, full of students. People thought he was insane, that…
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Balak: A Woman’s Dream
Streamer, gardener, learner, cedar… It is every Jewish woman’s dream. It is our desire to build true homes of Torah, to lead lives of Torah and to raise the next generation of Torah stars. As we pray by the candles each Friday at sundown, ‘May they illuminate the world with Torah and good deeds…’ But…
